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Photos taken at Tverrdalen in 2006 2./I./KG 26 (Löwengeschwader) 1H+FK WNr.3158 29.05 1940 The aircraft in which Walter Neusüß was

they are pretty rusty.

XCVU, as Fritz said you might have to fiddle with the repro strap fittings to get them to work. Are the lugs clean and free of rust or corrosion?

Hello, does anyone have an opinion on the authenticity of this Iron Cross? It's a 1st class Rudolf Souval.

This is an interesting set of dogtags from a german soldier named Walter (or Walther) Unger. He was born on June 26th 1896 in Saarbrücken. So he would have turned 18 just before the start of ww1. The first dogtag is a model of 1878. It still has the original black and white string and it only shows his name. The second tag is a model 1915. It shows his name, place of birth, date of birth and his unit. It still has most of the original string, but it's not as long as it's supposed to be. It did come with a short piece of thicker string, but I'm not sure if that really belongs with it. Maybe an old repair that came loose again? I think it's really interesting to have these two tags together. The soldier probably kept his old tag when it was supposed to be replaced by the newer one. If anyone has any more information about this person, I'd be glad to hear!

Everything supposedly fake but old fakes maby .EK2 non magnetic one piece, is this cross fake and what gives it away?

Thoughts on this medal please

I think I would leave that one.

An Epping Forest Keeper around 1957, photographed outside the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge in Chingford.

Oh thanks! I didn't know they were issued in pairs. Nice set of tags too!

Older dogtags were always issued in pairs, one large one small, in 1916 this was changed to a larger dog tag in two halfs

Thanks! Yes, I still have quite a bit more stuff I'm going to share (bayonets, some german equipment, inert grenades...). I'm taking a few pictures every now and then and posting them here.

Opinions on this summer tunic eagle- KM or heer?

Looks like tarnished silver to me, if it came on that jacket, it should be silvery. By the way, the buttons on that jacket are not qute right, they belong on the fieldgrey tunics, they should be bright aluminium Gilt Tombak, Kriegsmarine Silvered Zink, Heer

Could be Kenny with lots of patina.

Looks silver to me

Gold or Silver?

Do you have any more photos of militaria you might like to post on the forum?

Thanks! I'll try.

You'll have to file the inside of the strap fitting a bit

Any tips on how to mount a chinstrap on a m16?Got one and it's pretty hard to get the repro strap on it.

original

So what do you think, Fritz? I've followed this thread for a while, and am certainly interested to get your take on the cross above. Does it tick the right boxes for an original?

Thanks Xcvu! Yes, I tested the core and everything and it seems to pass the tests. The core is magnetic, the frame is not, and it does seem to be a multi-piece construction. Not sure how to judge the sharpness of the swastika since it's got some wear to it, and the colour between the chipped swastika and the frame look similar given the tarnishing, but it's difficult to tell. It's tough, I've done lots of research online about these crosses over the years, but I haven't had the chance to handle many that I know are real, so I'm definitely still finding my feet in terms of recognizing all the details and knowing what to look for. It's great to get the input from those who have much more experience with these things.

I'm not a big expert on ww2 ek2's but I don't think there is a big difference between these and their ww1 counterparts. Try checking if the core is magnetic it should stick and then try checking the silver frame it shouldn't be as reactive as the core and you can feel the difference. Also the swastika's edges should be sharp and not dull. On your cross you can see that the color of swastika faded in some points try to compare the color of those points to the one of the frame they shouldn't be the same as it would indicate a one piece construction. While for the markings I did some research and they could be hallmarked just as their ek1 counterparts which may differ from a manufacture to another. Also try to slide a thin piece of paper between the frame and core it should slide in between. Hope this helps you.

I also have an EK2 with markings on the smaller ring. It's a 1939 version, so I don't know if it would be the same story as the earlier crosses, but it seems like some makers did add additional markings to the smaller ring. I'll post some pictures below. Depending on how it catches the light, the mark on the smaller ring looks like either a fragment of an X, a kind of misshapen M, or some kind of ohm symbol, but like I said it's extremely hard to make out. I posted it to another forum because the makers mark on the main suspension didn't line up with the font of that maker, and I had concerns about its originality...it's stamped "4" which would be for Steinhauer & Lück, but the style of the 4 doesn't look like any of theirs I've seen. The consensus there was that the cross looked original, and might actually be from maker "24" who were apparently known to have mis-struck or faint 2's on some makers marked examples. They also shared some other examples from that maker with additional marks to the smaller ring as well. I would be really interested to get people's opinions on this cross here, but if we agree that this one is original, it would certainly seem like there are genuine examples out there with marks on the smaller rings.

Got it 1 year ago and it looked very interesting . It used to be mounted on a medal bar. Even if it was listed as an original I am still not convinced about it's authenticity .

can you send detailed photos?

I have one marked with an ,,u" in the exact same spot besides mine I've never seen another EK2 marked on the smaller ring.

Thank you for the assessment, Fritz! I guess it just has an usual marking.

A perfectly good example with a lot of patina

Here they are. I did the tests recommended in this thread and it does check out.

Haven't seen that before, but you you post photos of front and rear of cross?

Hello Fritz. Yes, here they are. I noticed something on the other side too but I can't make it out.

Can you post photos?

Hello. I hope I am posting in the right place. I have a question about a WW1 Class 2 Iron Cross, if I may. It doesn't have any markings on the larger ribbon ring, but it has a W engraved on the smaller ring. Is this something that can occur on authentic medals of this type?

Here I show an EK2 Spang by the top quality maker Wilhelm Deumer. Wiederholungsspange 1939 zum Eisernen Kreuz II. Klasse 1914 It's a Prinzen size (smaller than the standard one) hence only 2 prongs to the rear rather than the usual 4. Beautiful patina and frosting. This would be really hard to upgrade!

"SPANGE" - do you know the correct pronunciation? I had one like that many years back, and also two different miniatures. A friend of mine had in his school days, mid 1960s, a perfect example of the 1st class verion in it's original case, both in mint condition. The 1st. class is now extremely hard to find. I have had a few 2nd class examples over the past years, this is my only example remaining.

So the mystery is solved, brink is actually his name or rather Ahrbrink. How would that translate? for the memories, yours Fritz Ahrbrink, 15.2.43 ?

Thanks to all of you for your help.The photo itself is very soft-focus so insignia details are not really possible.That word '....brink',or whatever it says,is really bugging me!

Allot of good points raised there, always hard to tell what it says because of the old style script looks like Fritz Thassrbrink or Tessbrink, as Greg says as this is Black and white the chap might not even be a pilot kind of looks red to me for flak but really hard to make a judgement with out seeing any more of the picture such as awards etc to clarify whither he is a pilot or not.

you need to be careful with the date though, it is clearly lighter than the rest of the writing hinting it could have been added later or with a different pen... it also could have simply been an issue with the fountain pen that wrote the script on the back. The numbers are written in proper German style though (a 1 always looks likes a 7 when drawn in correct German style)

so it is! i didn't notice a date even though its perfectly Clear! anyway yes i agree with Greg

It is also dated before the Waffenfarbe change in 1943, so the collar tabs, though black and white in the photo are a light colour. Possibly light blue (medical) or pink (engineers) maybe even light green (air traffic control). Whatever it is, he is not a pilot and of very low rank.

Someone may correct me if wrong, very hard to make out the exact insignia... The Collar and Shoulder boards are either denoting a Corporal or a Feldwebel... which is a Warrant Officer. I'm leaning more towards the latter. And yes it is a photograph not a postcard.

ahh thats a German Name!

Thanks RAF!! The bottom right hand corner is embossed 'Langhans', Don't think he's a famous ace anyway!

Hi Andrew and Welcome to the Forum I believe that it is actually a Photograph not a Postcard. The person however..... If He was not very important Eg just a solider it could take forever to find out who he was. But Someone else here may know who He is. Regards RAF